Michael bought a new belt at the store when they were having a $40\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the belt was $$45$, how much did Michael pay with the discount?
First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$45$ $\times$ $40\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $40\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{40}{100}$ which is also equal to $40 \div 100$ $40 \div 100 = 0.40$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.40$ $\times$ $$45$ $ = $ $$18.00$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price Michael paid. $$45$ $-$ $$18.00$ $ = $ $$27.00$ Michael paid $$27.00$ for the belt.